Daniel 3:25-30

Daniel 3:25

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

 

Here was Nebuchadnezzar’s first encounter with God Himself.  Up to this point he had just heard how the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could deliver them from the penalty of not bowing down to the image but here Nebuchadnezzar is looking into the face of Deity as he looks into the furnace.  The King now sees four men walking around in the flames, loosed of all the clothing and ropes which would have been used to bind them.  He was also amazed at the fact that they were walking around in the furnace in the midst of the fire which was heated seven times more than normal.  They should have been consumed instantly, instead they were walking around having fellowship with the fourth man in the fire.  The fourth man was Christ Himself who came to save Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from a fiery death.  Some spiritual principles surface from this encounter:

 

1. No matter what binds us, when Christ comes into our lives He can loose us.

2. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, Christ can save us according to His will.

3. When we are faithful to God and refuse to forsake Him in any situation, He is faithful to us in all settings.

4. God’s promises never fail>>Isaiah 43:2 (KJV)   When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

 

Now there is a controversy concerning this verse started by the modern versions which state “son of the gods” rather than “Son of God.”  I want to tackle that error here.

 

Is it “God” or “gods?”

 

Daniel 3:25 (KJV)   He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

 

Daniel 3:25 (ESV) He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

 

A criticism that the modern version only proponents (MVOP) level against the King James Bible is found in Daniel 3:25.  The question concerning this verse is should it be singular as “God” or should it be plural as “gods?”  The MVOP claim that Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist and there is no way that he would have understood that the Lord Jesus Christ was the one in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Now a question must be asked.  Did God write the Bible according to the belief systems of the people mentioned therein or did He write the Bible according to His own wisdom?  Once we get into the text, we will see that the King James Bible has rendered the word properly as “God” and not “gods” as the modern versions do.

 

The Aramaic words found in the statement are as follows, "da^mēh lebar 'ĕla^hı^yn" The last word corresponds to the word "elohim" in the Hebrew which shows the plurality of God. In other words, it does not signify 3 gods but is used to show "three distinct persons" as one Godhead. Now the Aramaic word "elahiyn" may be translated "gods or God" and the usage is determined by the context.

 

Jeremiah 10:11 (KJV)   Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

 

Daniel 3:18 (KJV)   But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

 

Jeremiah 10:11 is the only place outside of Daniel where the word “elahiyn” is translated “gods.”  In the book of Ezra, it is translated “God” 43 times.   So we see that the word is definitely used according to context as many words in Scripture are.

 

When we look at the modern versions that say "son of the gods" it is basically claiming son (singular) but gods (plural) so which son of which god in the pantheon of gods of Babylon was he? The plural word "gods" does not fit the context of the immediate statement that it is in. It is like 5 men standing next to each other and a little boy is brought out and introduced as a son of the men. It does not make grammatical sense because the boy can only be the son of one of the men. Now let us go further in the context.

Daniel 3:26 (KJV) Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

Notice verse 26 that Nebuchadnezzar came by the furnace and spoke into the furnace calling the three men servants of the most high God, not gods.   Even the ESV translates it as “Most High God.”  It is very same word used in verse 25.  We never translate the Scriptures according to how we believe someone may think, we translate according to the underlying text.

 

Daniel 3:26 (ESV) Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.

 

So the context of verse 25 would demand that the word "God" be used to make proper sense out of the narrative. Let us look at a verse which precedes the actual furnace scene.

Daniel 3:17 (KJV) If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

Notice the three Hebrew boys state that the God they serve can deliver them. So they told Nebuchadnezzar about the God they serve, which is in keeping with the context of the following verses of the furnace scene. There would have been no need on Nebuchadnezzar's part to change it to a plural "gods" since he was seeing a miracle and would have remembered they spoke of them serving only one God and not many. Now finally we look at two more verses in this chapter.

Daniel 3:28-29 (KJV) Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. {29} Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

Four times in the closing verses of this chapter Nebuchadnezzar mentions God (same word as in verse 25) and in all four mentions, not one is made in the plural. Therefore, in verse 25, the word "God" stands as the correct rendering which fits the context of the entire narrative in this chapter.

 

Then the MVOP level another charge concerning the word “son.”  If you notice in verse 25, it is capitalized as “Son.”  When the King James translators saw this verse and knew that the word “elahiyn” would be singular in this case because of context and not plural, then they knew that this was a Christophany which was a pre-Bethlehem appearance of Christ.  Therefore, armed with that knowledge, they capitalized Son in respect to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 2:7 (KJV)   I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

 

Psalm 2:12 (KJV)   Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

 

If you notice in Psalm 2, in verses 7 and 12, the word “Son” is capitalized because it is directly referencing the Lord Jesus Christ.  I have yet to this day come across anyone who rejects the capitalization of those two words, yet the MVOP attempt to make a claim that it should not be capitalized in Daniel 3:25, when it is also referencing the Lord Jesus Christ.  So there you have it!

 

Daniel 3:26

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

 

Apparently the fire must have waned at this point because Nebuchadnezzar came to the door of the furnace and was not consumed as those were who threw them in.  Now he tells Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to exit the furnace.  God totally sustained them in the fiery furnace and upon the King’s summon they exited the furnace.  The king had originally wanted to execute them now they are free from the furnace of execution.

 

Daniel 3:27

And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellers, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

 

The king called all his political people together and wanted them to witness what just happened.  They all with one consensus agreed that fire had no power over them and not even one hair was singed.  They were thrown in with all their clothes on hoping to cause them more pain until the fire completely consumed them but not even the color or even a thread of their clothing was affected by the fire, in fact, for being in a blast furnace like that not even the slightest smell of the fire was on them.  If you stand close to a small campfire, some of the smell will get on your clothes.  This shows that when God delivers someone in salvation, hell has absolutely no effect upon them at all.  Not even the smell of hell is on any believer.  God’s deliverance in salvation is total.

 

Daniel 3:28

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

 

Nebuchadnezzar was now forced to acknowledge that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was the true God because he now saw that God delivered them from the fiery furnace.  Before they were thrown into the furnace, they told the king that God could deliver them and now the king was seeing that this statement was totally true.  Here Nebuchadnezzar refers to the man in the fire as an angel.  The pagans in false religions had a belief in spiritual beings as they saw them as messengers of their gods.  He makes a very important statement by saying “his servants that trusted in him.”  Trusting the Lord in all situations will always bring about a different conclusion to the matter, whether it be the situation will be changed or we will be changed in the situation.  Their trust in the Lord had changed the king’s word, before this situation occurred they were to obey the king or suffer execution.  Since their faith in God was greater than their fear of death, they were willing to yield their bodies, even unto death, to never worship or serve any false god but only the true God who rules in Heaven.

 

Daniel 3:29

Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

 

Nebuchadnezzar now makes a decree concerning the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  He uses the word amiss which carries with it the meaning of “false or having fault.”  So he will not even tolerate a false statement concerning God because he saw with his own eyes that God is real and has the ability to save a person in the midst of a fiery furnace.  He now sends out this warning to all those nations and people under his authority that there will be a penalty of death if anyone speaks against the true God.  If anyone is caught making any false statements, they will be cut in pieces and their homes destroyed.  The king saw that there is no other God who can deliver like the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  At this point, Nebuchadnezzar is only looking at the fact that God is more powerful than any of their gods, so I would not, at this point claim that he became saved.  It was more of a religious proclamation than one from a salvation standpoint.

 

Daniel 3:30

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

 

Many times a Christian is not looking for a promotion but desires to remain obedient to God and that obedience can result in promotion.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not even thinking about doing this for personal gain, if they were, then God might have let them burn but their motives were sincere and as a result, the king promoted them in the main province of Babylon.  The word “promoted” carries with it the meaning of “advancement or prosperity.”  So not only were they promoted or advanced in position, they probably received some wealth along with it.  Psalm 75:6-7 (KJV)  For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.  {7} But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

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